jack-in-the-pulpit

American  

[jak-in-thuh-pool-pit, -puhl-] / ˈdʒæk ɪn ðəˈpʊl pɪt, -ˈpʌl- /

noun

jack-in-the-pulpits plural

1. A North American plant, Arisaema triphyllum, of the arum family, having an upright spadix arched over by a green or striped purplish-brown spathe.

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jack-in-the-pulpit British  

noun

1. an E North American aroid plant, Arisaema triphyllum , having a leaflike spathe partly arched over a clublike spadix

2. another name for cuckoopint

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• jack-in-the-pulpits
  plural

Etymology

Origin of jack-in-the-pulpit

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

jack-in-the-pulpit jack-in-the-pulpits

We didn’t get lucky on our April hike, but we did spot plenty of jack-in-the-pulpit, a hooded plant also called the bog onion.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2022

I was looking at all of the jack-in-the-pulpit flowers, and they don’t occur in Florida.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2021

These included aroids as diverse as the beautifully colored Japanese jack-in-the-pulpit and the corpse flower, a gigantic stinking plant from Sumatra whose blooming has become a crowd-pulling event in botanical gardens around the world.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2019

This flower arrangement is typical of the Arum family, which includes plants such as the skunk cabbage, calla lily and jack-in-the-pulpit.

From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2014

I seasoned it with wild garlic and jack-in-the-pulpit roots.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

The rub was that Wosczyna is a collector of unusual bulbous plants such as jack-in-the-pulpits and other aroids, as well as spring flowers such as trilliums.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2020